For other uses, see Tooth Fairy (disambiguation)Tooth Fairy may refer to:* The Tooth Fairy, the concept of a mythical creature who gives out money in exchange for teeth* Tooth Fairy , an upcoming 2010 comedy film* Tooth Fairy, Where Are You?, a 25-minute, made-for-TV animated short...
.
The
Tooth Fairy is a mythical character depicted as a
fairyA fairy is a type of mythological being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.The word fairy derives from the term fae of medieval Western...
that gives a child money or gifts in exchange for a
baby toothDeciduous teeth, otherwise known as milk teeth, baby teeth, temporary teeth and primary teeth, are the first set of teeth in the growth development of humans and many other mammals. They develop during the embryonic stage of development and erupt—that is, they become visible in the mouth—during...
that has fallen out. Children typically place the tooth under their pillow at night. The fairy is said to take the tooth from under the pillow and replace it with money once they have fallen asleep.
Origins
In early
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, it was a tradition to bury baby teeth that fell out. Some believe that the Tooth Fairy evolved from the tooth mouse depicted in an 18th century
French languageFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
fairy taleA fairy tale is a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, gnomes, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events...
. In "La Bonne Petite Souris," a mouse changes into a fairy to help a good queen defeat an evil king by hiding under his pillow to torture him and knocking out all his teeth. Sometimes she comes in the day.
This combination of ancient international traditions has evolved into one that is distinct
Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxon may refer to:* historically, the Anglo-Saxons, a Germanic people inhabiting parts of England during the Dark Ages** their Anglo-Saxon language, commonly referred to as Old English** anything pertaining to the History of Anglo-Saxon England...
and
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n cultures among others.
Tooth tradition is present in several
western cultureWestern culture refers to cultures of European origin.The term "Western culture" is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and technologies...
s under different names. For example in
Spanish-speakingSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
countries, this character is called
Ratoncito PérezFor the given name, see Perez .Pérez is a Spanish language surname. It can be a patronymic meaning "son of Peter," affiliated with Peterson. It can also be a Hebrew name פרץ . The other forms of the same family name are: Peris, Pesidas, Peretz, Pritz, Pretz, Fretz, Fares, Farez, among others...
, a little
mouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. The American white-footed mouse and the deer mouse also sometimes live in houses. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common...
with a common surname, or just "ratón de los dientes" (Tooth Mouse). The "Ratoncito Pérez" character was created around 1894 by the priest Luis Coloma (1851–1915), a member of the
Real Academia EspañolaThe Real Academia Española , the RAE, is the official royal institution responsible for regulating the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, but is affiliated with national language academies in twenty-one Spanish-speaking nations through the Association of Spanish Language Academies...
since 1908. The Crown asked Coloma to write a tale for the eight-year old Alfonso XIII, as one of his teeth had fallen out.
A Ratón Pérez appeared in the tale of
the Vain Little MouseThe Vain Little Mouse is a folktale about a little mouse and her many suitors.-Plot:There are many different versions of this tale, but the structure is common. In the first part of the tale, a little mouse is cleaning her house and finds a coin unexpectedly...
.
The Ratoncito Pérez was used by
Colgate- Places :*Colgate, West Sussex, UK*Colgate, Wisconsin, USA*Colgate, Saskatchewan, Canada- People :*Pat Colgate, the artistic director of the Placer Theatre Ballet dance company...
marketing in Venezuela and Spain.
In
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
also the Tooth Fairy (
Fatina) is often substituted by a small mouse (
topino). In
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, this character is called
La Petite Souris (« The Little Mouse »). From parts of Lowland
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, comes a tradition similar to the fairy mouse: a white fairy rat which purchases the teeth with coins.
In some
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
n countries, such as
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
,
KoreaKorea is a civilization and formerly unified nation currently divided into two states. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it borders China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait....
and
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
, when a child loses a tooth the usual custom is that he or she should throw it onto the roof if it came from the lower jaw, or into the space beneath the floor if it came from the upper jaw. While doing this, the child shouts a request for the tooth to be replaced with the tooth of a mouse. This tradition is based on the fact that the teeth of mice go on growing for their whole life, a characteristic of all rodents. In
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, a different variation calls for lost upper teeth to be thrown straight down to the ground and lower teeth straight up into the air; the idea is that incoming teeth will grow in straight.
In parts of
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
, young children offer their discarded baby tooth to the sun, sometimes wrapped in a tiny rag of cotton turf.
Rosemary Wells, a former professor at the
Northwestern University Dental SchoolThe Northwestern University Dental School closed in 2001, 107 years after opening in 1894. Its first dean was Greene Vardiman Black....
, found evidence that supports the origin of different tooth fairies in the United States around 1900. Folklorist Tad Tuleja suggests postwar affluence, a child-directed family culture, and media turned the myth into a custom. The Tooth Fairy, a three-act playlet for children by Esther Watkins Arnold, was published in 1927. On May 28, 1938, MGM released The Little Rascals short entitled,
The Awful ToothThe Awful Tooth is a 1938 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Nate Watt. It was the 167th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...
, in which the gang agreed to pull their teeth out to make money from the tooth fairy. A reference in
American literatureAmerican literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
appears in the 1949 book, "The Tooth Fairy" by Lee Rothgow. Dr. Wells created a Tooth Fairy Museum in 1993 in her Deerfield, Illinois museum. In a March 1961
PeanutsPeanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000 , continuing in reruns afterward...
strip, new character Frieda asks if the prices are set by the
American Dental SocietyThe American Dental Association is an American professional association established in 1859 and has more than 152,000 members. Based in Chicago, the ADA is the world's largest and oldest national dental association and promotes good oral health to the public while representing the dental...
. The Tooth Fairy has appeared in several children's books, an adult book, and films, and the eponymous
radioRadio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
series.
A somewhat similar practice is found in
GuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its size is just under 110,000 km² with an estimated population...
where
Worry dollWorry dolls , or trouble dolls, are very small and colorful dolls traditionally made in Guatemala. A person who cannot sleep due to worrying can express their worries to a doll and place it under their pillow before going to sleep...
s are told a worry by children and placed under their pillow. During the night the doll is believed to worry so that the child can sleep, and sometimes to actually address or resolve the worry. As with the tooth fairy, parents may remove the doll at night to reinforce the child's belief in the myth.
Literature
A darker text is Graham Joyce's award-winning,
The Tooth Fairy, in which the title tooth fairy is shown to both torment and sexually excite the main character
In the
Terry PratchettSir Terence David John Pratchett, OBE , more commonly known as Terry Pratchett, is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
book,
HogfatherHogfather is the 20th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, and a 1997 British Fantasy Award nominee.The Hogfather is also a character in the book, representing something akin to Father Christmas. He grants children's wishes on Hogswatchnight and brings them presents...
, the Tooth Fairy has a complex operation, involving a group of human "Tooth Fairies" who collect the teeth, delivery men, guards and a castle that resembles a child's painting. The money given in payment for the teeth is generated through property rentals in the "real" world. The Tooth Fairy itself was the very first bogeyman, who became a children's myth as adults stopped believing in the power of the dark. Despite his origins, however, the Tooth Fairy/Bogeyman actually is revealed to be a protector of children; by harvesting their teeth, the Tooth Fairy/Bogeyman guards children from old and dark mind-control magic employed through the use of teeth.
In film and television
Numerous films have been made on this theme, mostly horror. One example is
Darkness FallsDarkness Falls is a American horror film written by Joe Harris and John Fasano and directed by Jonathan Liebesman. The score was composed by Brian Tyler...
, a film by
Jonathan LiebesmanJonathan Liebesman is a South-African film director who has worked primarily in the horror film genre.-Personal life:Liebesman was born in Johannesburg, South Africa...
, in which an evil-spirit of a woman killed long ago assumes the form of the 'Tooth Fairy', and starts haunting. Another example is
The Tooth FairyFor the mythical creature, see Tooth Fairy.For other uses, see Tooth Fairy ."The Tooth Fairy" is a horror movie released on August 8, 2006 on DVD in the USA and Canada. The movie stars Chandra West, Lochlyn Munro, Nicole Munoz, P. J. Soles, Sonya Salomaa, Jesse Hutch, Jianna Ballard, Peter New,...
, directed by Chuck Bowman. In this film, a murderous woman kills children for their teeth.
More comedic versions on the theme include the 1997 TV movie
ToothlessToothless is a 1997 children's fantasy television movie that first aired as part of The Wonderful World of Disney on ABC.-Plot:The movie opens with Dr. Katherine Lewis sharing her memories of going to see her dentist, Dr. Green, as a little girl, something she always enjoyed...
, in which
Kirstie AlleyKirsten Louise "Kirstie" Alley is an American actress known for her role in the TV show Cheers, in which she played Rebecca Howe from 1987–1993, winning an Emmy as the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for 1991....
plays a dentist who reluctantly becomes a tooth fairy, and the to-be-released
Tooth Fairy, starring
The Rock- People :* Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson , actor and former professional wrestler* Ole Anderson , professional wrestler* Don Muraco , professional wrestler* Rocco Rock , professional wrestler...
.
In
1991The year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York*Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for sci-fi action films.-Top grossing films :...
,
Lacewood ProductionsLacewood Productions was an animation studio based in Ottawa, Canada. It produced a television series, Katie and Orbie, as well as specials based on For Better or For Worse, and the 1990 feature The Nutcracker Prince...
produced a 24-minute children's animated short, entitled
Tooth Fairy, Where Are You?Tooth Fairy, Where Are You? is a 25-minute made for TV animated short produced by Lacewood Productions and directed by Paul Schibli. It was originally broadcast on Canada's CTV Television Network in the year 1991.- Story :...
, where an unofficial tooth fairy-in-training is discovered by a girl as her tooth is collected. The two became friends and are sad when they must part when the fairy becomes "official".
In the Nickelodeon Cartoon series
The Fairly OddParentsThe Fairly OddParents is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman about the adventures of Timmy Turner, who is granted fairy parents named Cosmo and Wanda. The series started out as cartoon segments that ran from September 4, 1998 to March 23, 2001...
, the Tooth Fairy is married to Jorgen Von Strangle.
In the
South ParkSouth Park is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become infamous for its crude, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
episode
The Tooth Fairy Tats the boys attempt to collect teeth in order to make money from the tooth fairy.
In
Hellboy II: The Golden Army, tooth fairies are depicted as small, ravenous creatures with a taste for calcium. They will eat humans alive, starting with the teeth, to get to the bones.
In
The Santa Clause 2The Santa Clause 2 is a 2002 film and the sequel to the 1994 film, The Santa Clause. All the principal actors from the first film reprise their roles...
and
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape ClauseThe Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is a 2006 American film, the sequel to The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2.Tim Allen again plays Scott Calvin , while Martin Short plays Jack Frost, a competing holiday character. Allen and Short had previously worked together in the 1997 Disney comedy...
, the Tooth Fairy is part of the Council of Legendary Figures, along with
Santa ClausSanta Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
, the
Easter BunnyThe Easter Bunny is a mythical character depicted as an anthropomorphic rabbit. In legend, the creature brings baskets filled with colored eggs, candy and toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter...
,
CupidIn Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of erotic love and beauty. He is also known by another one of his Latin names, Amor...
,
Mother NatureMother Nature is a common representation of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing features of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother. Images of women representing mother earth, and mother nature, are timeless...
,
Father TimeFather Time is a personification of time. He is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, dressed in a robe, carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device...
and the
SandmanThe Sandman is a figure in folklore who brings good sleep and dreams.Sandman may also refer to:-People:*Mariano Rivera or Sandman, New York Yankees relief pitcher*Howard Simms or Sandman, vaudeville tap dancer...
. Unlike most depictions of the tooth fairy as a female fairy, this fairy is in fact male. The Tooth Fairy has also mentioned that he would like to be called "The Molinator.".
In
Arthur (TV series)Arthur is an American-Canadian educational television series for children, that airs on PBS in the United States; Radio-Canada, Knowledge and TVOKids in Canada; ABC2 in Australia and BBC One/ CBBC in the UK...
, the Tooth Fairy uses all the teeth she collects and make a castle in which she lives in.
In the
Adult SwimAdult Swim, often stylized as [adult swim] and abbreviated as [as], is an adult-oriented cable television network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM ET/PT in the United States and broadcasting in countries such as Australia and Japan...
cartoon,
Aqua Teen Hunger ForceAqua Teen Hunger Force is an American animated television series shown on Cartoon Network as part of its Adult Swim late-night programming block, as well as Teletoon in Canada...
, Meatwad, Master Shake and Frylock have their teeth stolen by the Creature from Plaque Lagoon while trying to become rich quick in a plot involving trying to rip-off the Tooth Fairy, in the episode Creature from Plaque Lagoon.
Another Adult Swim cartoon,
MetalocalypseMetalocalypse is an American animated television series, which was created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha, and premiered on August 4, 2006 on Adult Swim....
, showcases part of a conversation regarding the tooth fairy between characters Nathan Explosion and Toki Wartooth. In the episode Skwisklok, Toki accepts an endorsement deal for a Wonka style candy company and acquires poor skin tone from lack of sleep and a hyperactive dispostion and is railing against Nathan for trying to calm him down before he pulls out one of his own cavity-ridden teeth nonchalantly and discards it. The 20-something Toki's justification for his unfazed disposal of his tooth to Nathan is, "Teeth grow back," to which Nathan corrects him. Toki then goes on to describe the tooth fairy as, "... the ancient Norse god, Orthar the tooth collector, [who] would leave [the children] a Pickle's Nickel" (Pickle's Nickels were the endorsement deal made by Pickles the Drummer in the episode).
The tooth fairy is also in
American Dragon: Jake LongAmerican Dragon: Jake Long is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The series finale aired on September 1, 2007. The show currently airs on Disney Channel and Toon Disney in the United States. In the United Kingdom it originally aired on Disney...
.
In the
Zoobilee ZooZoobilee Zoo is a children's television program featuring costumed performers dressed as animal characters. It originally aired from 1986–1987, then in syndication until 2001 on several television channels including commercial network television stations, public television stations, The...
episode
When You Wish Upon a Tooth Fairy, Whazzat loses her first baby tooth, but the tooth fairy is unfortunately on vacation and doesn't come at night. In her stead, Bravo, Lookout and Van Go dress up as tooth fairies.
External links